That Time Our Flight was Delayed
Dear Little Ones,
Sometimes in life, or most of the time in life, things do not go as planned. The Rams do not win the Superbowl every year, I don't pitch in the Majors, we don't still live in New York, and turns out that our dog Roman never learned how to quit shedding. Even though life doesn't always go as planned, and this can be more frustrating than the ending to an episode of The Walking Dead (damn cliffhangers), unplanned delays can make for the best stories.
This past summer, your Mom, you (Marshall), and I went on a trip to visit our friend Adam in Colorado. We had a great trip, did some hiking, visited a cool museum, drove all over a mountain (your mom nearly crapped her pants), lost several of your outfits (because you actually pooped your pants), and we ate at some cool places. Then, the trip was over, but your mom had to stay behind for work training. So you and I left for the airport and began our very long wait for the airplane to arrive. (Free lesson: Don't fly United if you can help it, they are a bunch of slow moving a-holes and every flight we have ever taken from them was at least 40 minutes late. United is to airlines what Nickelback is to music. Terrible).
As fate would have it, we were delayed for 2 hours. At first, we did some laps with you in the carrier. Since I had to quite a few carry on items, I loaded up with them, and we walked through terminals. It took me a while to realize you had drool running all over yourself like a crazy person, hence the funny looks, but we had fun nonetheless. You flashed smiles and everything was all good, as long as I kept moving.
I then let you free from your harness, and we wandered through our terminal with you on foot. You needed to hold onto chairs, tables, and/or the legs of strangers in order to keep from falling over, kind of like a drunk person. Despite the waiting that kept dragging on and on, we began to make friends. First, we met that hipster dude with the handlebar mustache who also had a boy your age. Then, we met an older couple, a few other random people, and the some United employees. We were like a brochure for a junior college, we had every ethnicity, shape, and size in our group.
After waiting, for what seemed longer than a Cubs fan waiting for a World Series, we finally lined up to board our flight. Nervous looks started to come our way. You started to get restless and flail about, and people were looking at us like we were about to tell them their credit card had just been declined right in front of everyone. Then, one of the women we met asked how old you are. And the guy in front of us told her how old Marshall is (yes, he knew your name, everyone did by that point). I told them both I was worried about ruining everyone's already frustrating flight, to which they replied that anyone who has a problem with a baby is an asshole.
We took our seat, which was similar to taking our place in a clown car at the circus. Just as we were getting situated for our 3 hour flight, which meant me sitting sideways and you pushed onto the floor, an older lady came up and offered us her seat, because there was noone around her. We didn't even get a chance to say yes before everyone around insisted that we take it.
We moved to our new comfy seat, and we were once again spoiled by the kindness of strangers, as they formed an assembly line and passed all 5 of our bags up to us, accompanied by jeers that included "1st time parent here", "Rookie!", and my favorite "How heavy does Marshall travel?". Needless to say, we had made a nice little airplane family, and they checked on you the whole flight. You must have sensed their kindness, because you rewarded them with quiet sleep the entire flight.
Sometimes in life, things don't go as planned, and sometimes that can be annoying, if you let it. But, if you ever get the chance, be like those great people that night, and help out somebody who is overwhelmed (like I was), or a person who is needy (like you were). Because as long as people are kind, you are willing to have a few laughs, play, and make some friends, the best stories can come from anywhere.
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Dad
Sometimes in life, or most of the time in life, things do not go as planned. The Rams do not win the Superbowl every year, I don't pitch in the Majors, we don't still live in New York, and turns out that our dog Roman never learned how to quit shedding. Even though life doesn't always go as planned, and this can be more frustrating than the ending to an episode of The Walking Dead (damn cliffhangers), unplanned delays can make for the best stories.
As fate would have it, we were delayed for 2 hours. At first, we did some laps with you in the carrier. Since I had to quite a few carry on items, I loaded up with them, and we walked through terminals. It took me a while to realize you had drool running all over yourself like a crazy person, hence the funny looks, but we had fun nonetheless. You flashed smiles and everything was all good, as long as I kept moving.I then let you free from your harness, and we wandered through our terminal with you on foot. You needed to hold onto chairs, tables, and/or the legs of strangers in order to keep from falling over, kind of like a drunk person. Despite the waiting that kept dragging on and on, we began to make friends. First, we met that hipster dude with the handlebar mustache who also had a boy your age. Then, we met an older couple, a few other random people, and the some United employees. We were like a brochure for a junior college, we had every ethnicity, shape, and size in our group.
After waiting, for what seemed longer than a Cubs fan waiting for a World Series, we finally lined up to board our flight. Nervous looks started to come our way. You started to get restless and flail about, and people were looking at us like we were about to tell them their credit card had just been declined right in front of everyone. Then, one of the women we met asked how old you are. And the guy in front of us told her how old Marshall is (yes, he knew your name, everyone did by that point). I told them both I was worried about ruining everyone's already frustrating flight, to which they replied that anyone who has a problem with a baby is an asshole.
We took our seat, which was similar to taking our place in a clown car at the circus. Just as we were getting situated for our 3 hour flight, which meant me sitting sideways and you pushed onto the floor, an older lady came up and offered us her seat, because there was noone around her. We didn't even get a chance to say yes before everyone around insisted that we take it.
We moved to our new comfy seat, and we were once again spoiled by the kindness of strangers, as they formed an assembly line and passed all 5 of our bags up to us, accompanied by jeers that included "1st time parent here", "Rookie!", and my favorite "How heavy does Marshall travel?". Needless to say, we had made a nice little airplane family, and they checked on you the whole flight. You must have sensed their kindness, because you rewarded them with quiet sleep the entire flight.Sometimes in life, things don't go as planned, and sometimes that can be annoying, if you let it. But, if you ever get the chance, be like those great people that night, and help out somebody who is overwhelmed (like I was), or a person who is needy (like you were). Because as long as people are kind, you are willing to have a few laughs, play, and make some friends, the best stories can come from anywhere.
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Dad
Marshall,
ReplyDeleteFrom the first day I met your dad, he always had the most respectful demeanor of any guy I know. Stories like this just show everyone how far a positive, polite attitude and outlook can take you in the most stressful situations. I love you three (soon to be four) guys and can't wait to watch you as you grow up.
Love,
Uncle Shark
Wow, thanks Uncle Shark. We love you too man. Every day is an adventure, can't wait to go through more together
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